For the last twenty years or so, Park Center has been witness to ever-increasing diversity in its hallways. Students and their families from all over the world are finding new homes in the Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center areas. They have moved here to find work, a better education, for the sake of their families, or to escape war and destitution in their homelands. Because of this, the English Language Learners Program, or ELL, has stepped up to help plan their futures, shape their education, and of course, teach them English.

The ELL program began nation-wide in the late 1970's in response to the increasing number of Vietnamese Immigrants entering the U.S. after the Vietnam War. Most of the refugees spoke little or no english, had poor educations, and lacked the basic skills needed to be successful in the U.S. These same reasons are what drives the modern ELL program. When the program began at Park Center, there was one classroom and one teacher. Now, there are six classrooms, six teachers, plus some Education Support Professionals.

Students now come from places like Liberia, Mexico, and many eastern Asian countries. About half of the students in the ELL program speak no English when they arrive here, and many others are illiterate. For example, most of the students who come to PC from Liberia can speak English already, but some don't know how to read or write it. Another group of people that is seen a lot in the ELL program are Hmong. In some cases, they have lived their whole lives in the U.S. but don't know English because English is not spoken at home. With the help of the ELL program, they can learn the basic skills and still be able to take regular classes here at PC.

In all, there are about 160 students enrolled in the ELL program, representing over twenty different countries and many different languages. That is more than three times the number of students in ELL ten years ago. When working with students who don't know any english, the ELL teachers start with the alphabet, basic vowel and consonant sounds, and identifying common words like "the" or "and." For these students, their ELL education might take anywhere between four or five years. In order to graduate from PC, they all must take the same required classes as everyone else, but often times they are unable to take anything more challenging than a gym class. One-third of the ELL kids take regular classes, another third take about half of a normal schedule, and the other third stays in the ELL rooms all day.

The students enrolled in the ELL Program make up roughly ten percent of the population here at PC, but that number is constantly on the rise. This is yet another reason why Park Center has the richest diversity of any school in the area.

Thanks to Mr. Nathan Kreie for the information!